


Safer at the Crossroads

by ForTheLoveOfSPN



Series: Safer at the Crossroads [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Confused Dean, Dean jealous, Explicit Language, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, Graphic Description, No sex yet but it's coming, Sam and dean argue, huge cliffhanger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-01-16 19:59:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12349641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForTheLoveOfSPN/pseuds/ForTheLoveOfSPN
Summary: There is a new threat in town, and it's going to be up to Sam, Dean, Cas, and an OC to save the world....and it will make you wish it was Lucifer.





	1. Wait...Bobby's WHAT?

Dean Winchester sat in a bar, one of his favorites down the street from the bunker. He lifted his beer to his mouth, thinking about the case he and his brother Sam had just laid to rest. There is no way in hell it could even be considered a win, too damn many people were lost before Sammy had the time to do any kind of research on what the thing was that killed them. Yah, blood, guts, and gore had to be cleaned off of too many walls by a shit-ton of spatulas. While yah, they got the frigging wraith, too many people were tortured on the way to their eternity for Dean to consider this to be a win.  
“Hello, Dean.” A voice came from behind him, one he knew all too well. Castiel, the trench coat wearing angel of the Lord and Dean’s best friend for over a decade, came up from behind him.  
“Cas….” Dean welcomed him. “Been out drinking any liquor stores lately?” He asked, trying to hide the disgust in his gut from the last hunt.  
“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”  
Dean laughed dryly. “Oh hell no! That would be against my code of ethics.”  
“And what code would that be?” Cas asked innocently.  
That’s just it—for being an angel of God, Cas is more than just innocent when it comes to humans…he’s down right child-like in too damn many ways for Dean’s comfort. If it was one thing he could ever change about his best friend, that would be it. Granted, angels are immortal, but they sure as hell can hurt, and if they happen to lose their grace…. Dean shuddered at the thought of losing Castiel; again.  
“Hey….” Cas said, breaking through his thoughts.  
“Yah?” Dean asked, taking another swig of beer. He felt like such a douche, losing his concentration. While Cas can hurt, doing something like that could get Dean killed, quick and in a hurry!  
“What code would that be, Dean?” Cas repeated the question, giving him a point blank stare.  
“The one I made to make your life a living, breathing comedy club.” Dean flashed his friend a smile, then watched the bartender. Damn, now that is something he’d like to get to know intimately! Smoking hot body.... ok face…. yah, he could tap that. He flashed her the Winchester Wink, but she rolled her eyes, and walked off to find something else.  
Wait, she turned him down? Seriously? He’s never had a problem getting any before!  
A sudden scream pierced the air through the open window next to Dean, and on pure reflex his legs were running out, his hand on his Glock before he even remembered telling them to haul ass. He punched out the front door, slid around the corner; then stopped dead in his tracks. Some woman was fighting off three bloodsuckers, and she was kicking some serious ass!  
His arm relaxed, the gun pointing to the ground. He stood there, mesmerized. She was dressed in leather, from shoulders, all the way down to her calf-length stiletto’s. Her long, fiery hair was tied back in a bun that was starting to come loose from the fight. Holy shit, this woman could MOVE! Dean wasn’t a man to give out praise lightly, but balls, even he was impressed! She moved so fluidly, she was almost a blur as she shoved the stiletto into the throat of one of the vampires, then pulled it back out as the bastard pretty much exploded. With the second, she whipped around, and decapitated the other with a bastard sword.  
He must have made some kind of a sound, since she whipped around as the other attacked. “Behind you!” Dean screamed as he rushed his sorry ass up to help. Damn, why the hell did he just stand there while she was being attacked? He is the idjit Bobby accused him of being so many times!  
“Get the hell out of here!” She screamed at him, as she turned on the balls of her feet, sending the third son of a bitch to his end with another decapitation.  
She turned to him, on full alert, expecting him to attack. “Whoa there! Not going to hurt you!” He told her, jumping out of the way of the bastard sword. “Easy!” He said in a softer tone.  
“Are you insane! Do you want to get yourself killed?” She demanded.  
“It’s not that easy to kill me, Doll-face.” He said as she walked under the street light. Doll-face didn’t begin to cover it. She made the bartender look like a triple-bagger! He flashed her the Winchester Wink, but like the bartender, she had none of it. Shit, Dean felt like he was losing his touch.  
“Who are you?” She demanded, unimpressed. But in all honesty, he can’t blame her. After all, he did stand there like a dumbass while she was fighting.  
“Dean Winchester.” He said, and held out his hand. Get your shit together! He mentally shook himself. He could almost hear Bobby in his head, cussing him out like a sailor.  
“Bullshit! Dean Winchester is ten foot tall and bulletproof! You’re neither of those.” She spat, giving him the once-over.  
“Wait, you’ve heard of me?” He asked, stunned.  
She rolled her eyes. “Yah, what hunter hasn’t, dumbass? Sam and Dean Winchester are legendary, the best hunters on the planet, trained by their father John, and Bobby Singer! Please! If you’re Dean Winchester, I’m the damned Queen of England.”  
He had no clue why it was important to prove to her that he was who he said he was, but he reached in his back pocket with one hand, and held up one finger with the other. He pulled out his wallet and showed her his true driver’s license, the one with Bobby’s old house as his address. Normally, he wouldn’t give a damn if she turned him down, but shit! She reminded him too much of…. well…. him.  
“Dean, everything ok?” Cas’ voice came from behind him.  
Dean’s shoulders dropped. “Yah, it is now.” He said, as he heard Cas’ footsteps come closer.  
“Wait…. I…..I know you.” The woman’s voice said softly as she looked at Castiel.  
“Rachael? Rachael Singer?” Cas breathed, surprise dripping from his voice.  
“Castiel?” She echoed his shock.  
“Singer? Um, Cas, is there something you need to tell me?” Dean asked, just as floored. “So help me, if there is a relative of Bobby’s that I don’t know about….”  
“She’s his daughter.” Cas interrupted.  
For the first time in his life, Dean was utterly and completely speechless. His mouth opened and closed like a fish, but nothing came out.  
“Yah, he never knew about me.” Rachael started to walk around Dean, keeping a wide berth. She was close enough though that he caught a scent of her perfume, and his body hardened. He turned away from her, trying to get a tight rein on his shit.  
But Cas got in front of her. “Where are you staying, Rach? You know you can go to Bobby’s old place…” He started.  
“Like hell I can! It belongs to someone else now! No, so not gonna happen!”  
“Rachael, don’t tell me you’re still…”  
“Castiel, can it. We aren’t discussing my issues here. I’m fine.”  
“Can what, Rachael, what does this conversation have to do with canned foods?” Cas cocked his head, his voice full of confusion.  
“She means to be quiet, Cas.” Dean said drolly.  
“I just don’t understand….” Cas said, shaking his head.  
Rachael looks at Dean and cracks a smile for the first time, and his heart skipped a beat. She is beyond hot! Her legs seem to go on forever, and he imagined them wrapped around his….  
“Cas, you haven’t changed a bit.” She laughed.  
“Am I supposed to?” He questioned, still confused. He looked at Dean, his face beet red. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand society.”  
“It’s ok, Castiel. It changes so much even I don’t understand it most of the time.” Rachael said with an ironic laugh.  
Dean looked over at her. “Let me buy you a drink. After what you just went through, you more than earned it.” He said without even thinking about it.  
Rachael looked at Cas, but Dean couldn’t read what her eyes said since she was looking away.  
“Go ahead, Rachael. Neither one of us would harm you in any way.” Castiel vowed.  
She looked down at her shaking hands like she never saw them before.  
“Come on, Rachael.” Dean gave her a reassuring smile, and steered her toward the front door.  
She shot Dean a look as if to say she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, but she went inside and let him lead her to their table.  
The bartender that turned Dean down earlier came over to the table, where she point-blank ignored Dean, and asked Rach what she wanted to drink. “Just a beer, bottle, no glass needed.”  
What a woman! Ass kicker, and drinks straight from the bottle, not to mention off the scale sexy! She also doesn’t trust him in the least bit, which makes her highly intelligent. Ok man, time to get your head back into the game. “Care to tell us why the vampires were after you?” Dean asked.  
“They weren’t. I came upon them ganging up on a young girl about eighteen.” She shrugged. “I stopped them.”  
“Good for you. I thought we got rid of all the vampires in the area, but I guess not.” Dean said, trying to keep her talking. Her voice does things to him, and he just can’t hear enough of it for some reason. It’s husky, deep, yet still so feminine.  
She rolled her eyes. “Do ya think? Do you think Lawrence has the corner on anything supernatural? Is your brain that addled?”  
Dean’s hackles raised, getting annoyed. “No, I don’t think that way at all! Lady, I have seen more shit across this country than you can imagine.”  
“I don’t know about that, Winchester, I have seen my share of monsters, and have a very vivid imagination.” She upended the bottle, downing the last quarter of the bottle. “I guess it’s time for me to get back.” She announced, putting the bottle back down on the table a little roughly.  
Dean heard Cas talk to Rachael, but he barely heard a word. He just couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Her long, auburn hair had fallen in silky curls, framing her face. It just kept falling down, down, down to her waist, and he wanted to run his fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it looked. Her jade eyes held him just as entranced. He couldn’t help but think of the chick that played Scarlet O’Hara in his mom’s favorite movie from when she was alive, Gone With The Wind. He’d never tell Sam or Cas, but once in a while, he’d watch it when he started missing mom, but Rach looks a lot like her, only with different hair color.  
Dean blushed slightly when she caught him staring. Get a grip on yourself, Dean. This stuff you’re thinking; you don’t have time for it. Not only that, but you ain’t relationship material. The life span of the woman of a hunter is about three-point-five seconds. So ain’t worth it!  
“So, let me see if I understand, you are living under a bridge, but you won’t go to Bobby’s house in Sioux Falls?” Castiel asked.  
“Wait, what?” Dean asked when his words hit him like a lead balloon. “You’re homeless?” Dean asked, stunned.  
“Yah, so? That house belongs to someone else, not me. Dad didn’t even know about me, no one did. By the time mom found him to tell him about me, he was already dead.”  
“Yes, the house belongs to me, Rachael, and I say you can stay there if you want. Or, you can stay with me, my brother Sam, and Cas at the bunker here. Bobby would have my head if I didn’t.”  
Her eyes shifted back and forth from Dean to Cas, and Dean could almost see the wheels in her head turning.  
She looked away, blinking rapidly. “All right, fine. But I will pay rent, cook, clean, all that happy horse-shit. I won’t stay there for free. Just don’t go thinking that just because of a woman that I can’t hunt.”  
“Sweetheart, that wasn’t what I was thinking at all. I saw what you can do, remember? Number two, you are your own person; I am not going to tell you what to do. I don’t pull that kind of crap.” Dean said, and meant every word.  
She nodded and didn’t say another word. She just grabbed her bottle of beer and downed the rest of it. He smiled to himself, he couldn’t help but notice that she drank like he did.  
He looked at Cas. “So…. how do you two know each other?”  
Her head snapped over to look at Cas and she gave a slight shake of her head. Cas put his hand over hers, and gave a small smile. “It’s ok, Rachael. Dean won’t judge, that’s not in him.” He looked back over to Dean. “I rescued her from death several years back. I know you would not want those details; it would just anger you.”  
He just looked at her, the anger raising anyway, all the different scenarios raising up to scream at him in his mind. “Then it’s settled…you’re coming home with us. Castiel saved you, so we’re going to make sure it sticks.”  
Rachael again looked away. She mumbled something under her breath that sounded like “I don’t need saving now, it’s too late anyway…” but before he could question it, Sam walked up to the table and sank onto the stool.  
He looked over at Rachael. “Hi, I’m Sam.” He said with a smile, holding out his hand for her to shake it.  
When she took it, and answered him with her own name, Dean felt a rush of unexplainable anger. He rolled his eyes, more at the stupid emotion than at Sam.  
“Yo, Sammy.” Dean said, hiding the irritation. He looks over at Rach. “This is my little brother.”  
Rachael looks over at him, and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sam.”  
Sam flagged the bartender for another round.  
“So I heard about the two of you around the circles, and I hear you’re the sweet one of the two, Sam.” She looked at him with a wicked gleam in her eye.  
Dean’s hackles really started to raise, and he took a long pull off his beer, shooting daggers at Sam.  
Sam blushed. “Well, Dean can be a little rough around the edges at times, so one of us has to show compassion….” Sam moved his bar stool a little closer to Rachael, and whispered something in her ear, and she leaned her head back and laughed, her voice reminding Dean of bells.  
“All right, you two! Rachael, does the word vampires ring any bells? Your life can be in danger now, so I don’t think you need to go back to sleeping under a bridge.”  
“Wait….you’re homeless?” Sam asked, echoing Dean’s words.  
“Yah, and she’s Bobby’s daughter.” Dean said, smiling sarcastically.  
“Then you’re going to come and stay with us at the bunker. Period.”  
Rach shoots a “die, asshole” look at Dean, but he just gives her his tried and true smile, the one that usually makes chicks melt, but she rolled her eyes, and looked back over at Sam.  
“All right, Sam.” She mumbled, her face damn near glow in the dark. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”  
“Well then, what do you say we get going?” Dean asked, finishing off his beer.  
“Dean, what is your problem?” Sam asked, giving a chuckle.  
“What is my problem? I don’t have one, Sammy. I would just like to get her out of here, and to safety!”  
Rachael looked at Dean with fury in her eyes. “So, you think to make decisions for me then? You get your boxers, if you even bother to put them on, in a twist because I said hello to your brother?”  
“What? No….that’s not….” Dean started, flabbergasted that she hit the nail on the proverbial head. “No, just…no! Why would I do that? We just met!”  
“Exactly! So, pull your head out of your ass! If you want to have me stay at your place, that’s fine, but no getting pissed off at your brother for being nice to me!”  
“Well, Dean, someone that can actually put you in your place.” Sam laughed, pushing another button of Dean’s. “Not only that, but I bet she can keep you there!”  
With nothing else to say in his defense, he just went to his go-to phrase, shooting Sam a point blank look. “You shut your mouth!”  
Rachael rolls her eyes. “On second thought, maybe I should just go back to the bridge. This is the last thing I need right now.”  
Dean stood up so fast, the bar stool fell over behind him. “No, please Rachael. I will turn the filter on, and behave myself, I promise.”  
She stared at him for so long, he thought she was going to tell him where he could go, and give him directions on how to get there. But after a few minutes, she nodded. “All right. Just no more fighting. I can’t, no, I won’t deal with it.”  
Wow, she is one tough woman. Dean knew she wouldn’t tolerate any of his shit, so he’d have to tread carefully, although why he even cared was beyond him. Oh, who does he think he’s kidding, she’s smoking hot! He’ll sleep with her once, help her get back on her feet, and walk away. There’s no way in hell he’s going to subject her to his life, even if he is so damn tired of it all. The Winchester curse is alive and strong with him. Shit!  
He heard Sam and Rachael laughing, and he felt the urge to beat the shit out of his brother. No need to get attached to her, she’s not staying long. He finished his beer, and stood up. “Well, let’s get going before those bastards’ friends come looking for them.” He walked toward the door. If they follow, they follow.  
Rach looked at Sam and shrugged. They stood up and left. When Rach, Sam, and Cas got to the Impala, Dean felt like a douche when Sam opened the door for Rachael and let her get in before he shut it.  
“So, I gather you changed your mind then. I can always get out of the car before you take off….” Rachael said cautiously as Sam and Cas got into the back seat.  
In answer, he started the car and took off before Sam had the chance to even shut the door.  
“Dean, what is your problem?” Sam demanded.  
“Me? I don’t have a problem.” He said, looking at Sammy through the rear view mirror. “I wanted to get out of there before more bloodsuckers came to wipe us out.”  
Sam shot him a look of “Yah, right, tell me another one, asshole!”  
Dean just shrugged, and turned on the radio, Boston blasted out of the speakers. Before long, Rachael was singing along with More Than A Feeling like a pro. Damn, she has some pipes, even if she was trying to keep it low. He looked over at her and smiled. Hell yah, sounds like she likes the same kind of music he does! Wait, that’s not necessarily a good thing…. Shit. His smile slid from his face, and he looked back to the road. The singing next to him stopped, and out of the corner of his eye, he can see her turn to look out the window.  
Way to go, dumbass. Bobby was right, you are an idjit. Be nice man, she’s gone through enough.


	2. When it hits the fan, it splatters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean have a new roommate at the bunker, and she out-stubborns Dean!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep reading for notes at the end.

Dean passed an old roadhouse. “Hey, you hungry?” He asked her more than the other two.  
“I guess….a bacon burger sounds real good about now.”  
Dean smiled, he couldn’t help it. “What a woman.” He mumbled, and looked into the rearview mirror at Sammy, who was smiling ear to ear. “Shut up, bitch.” Dean said, almost laughing.  
“You first, jerk.” Sammy retorted.  
Dean flips a bitch in the car, and heads back to the roadhouse. They walk in, and Turn the Page by Bob Segar is playing loud and proud on the jukebox.  
Rachael moans as if a sudden…yah, Dean is so not going there. But her next words nearly made him have his own. “Damn, I adore Segar. Classic rock is the best music out there.”  
“Bacon burgers, classic rock, see there Sam? There is a woman out there that appreciates the finer things in life.”  
Sam just rolled his eyes, and followed him and Rach in, where they sat down.  
Dean and Rach sucked down their burgers and fries, as Cas and Sam discussed what had just happened. “They could go after Rachael now.” Castiel said, worried.  
“Even if that happens, I will kick ass just like I did tonight. I’m not afraid of those damned blood suckers. I have been through worse, much worse.”  
Somehow Dean didn’t doubt she was telling the truth. It was in her eyes, she was just as broken as they were, but she had the air of don’t mess with me, or I will kill you in the worst manner I could think of! In other words, she was his kind of woman. Son of a bitch!  
After they finished with their burgers, they climbed back into Baby. She shot him an indecipherable look. “By the way, I meant to tell you, this is a beautiful piece of horsepower. What is that, a six cyl or an 8?”  
“Oh hell, you know about cars too?” Dean asked, stunned. Shit, she’s too damn good to be true.  
She nodded. “My foster parents taught me.” She said, and looked back to the window. “It’s easier to work on them before computers took them over, just like the rest of everything else.” She said softly.  
Before he knew what he was doing, he reached over and grabbed her hand. She turned her head to look at him. “Hey, it’s going to be ok.”  
She nodded, and turned her head back to the window.   
He pulled into the bunker a short time later, and when she went inside, she looked around. “Damn, this place is sharp!” She exclaimed, breathless.  
“Rachael, where are your things?” Cas asked in his usual gravelly voice.  
She held her arms out at her side. “Cas, I told you, I’m homeless. What you see is what you get.”   
Dean, for the first time in his life, was speechless. Sam reached into his back pocket and handed Cas a credit card. Dean looked down, ashamed that they have to commit credit card fraud, again, to help someone, especially her.  
Cas nodded, and disappeared. Dean took her down into the bedroom area. “Just choose a room except that one, and….” He pointed toward Sam’s room, but didn’t point his own room out. Damn it, he wanted her in his room, but….he just didn’t know if it would be…yah, shit!  
She just looked at him with tears in her eyes, and it broke his heart. “Thank you, for everything. No one has been this kind to me….not in a very long time.”  
“You’re thanking me? I’ve been a douche all night.” He said, perplexed.  
“Not all night.” She said, and stepped into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She came just to his chest, even though she had heels on. Damn, she’s short, but she feels so good, so….warm against him. He didn’t realize how cold he was inside, until he wrapped his arms around her, albeit awkwardly.  
She stepped back a moment later. “Yah, sorry. That was stupid.” She said, and walked to the room beside his.   
“Hey!” he started. She stopped with her hand on the knob. “You can hug me any time. Your dad once told me that family doesn’t end with blood, and he was right. You are Bobby’s daughter, and that makes you family.” He said, trying to reign in his emotions.  
“I’m just not good at showing emotions, Dean. I….I just had to tell you in some way how grateful I am.” She said, and went into the bedroom, closing the door softly behind her.  
Dean runs his fingers through his hair. That woman is going to be the death of him, not that it’s anything new. He went back out into the common room, where Sam was sitting on the computer. “Yo, Sammy, find anything?”  
Sam shakes his head. “Nothing. It’s almost…..spooky. I mean, there is literally nothing!” He said, closing the laptop.  
“Not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing.” Dean said as he sat at the table. He started rummaging through the papers, looking at the stuff from the last case. “We need to learn how to use a filing cabinet.” He said, grouchily.  
“Dean, I like her.” Sam said softly.  
“Yah? So? In case you’re not caught up, we have no room in our lives for women, not in that capacity. They tend to die around us, and I’m not subjecting Bobby’s daughter to that!”  
“So you’re telling me that you feel nothing whatsoever for her?”  
He was not about to admit shit, especially not to his brother. “Did I say anything whatsoever about feelings? I feel responsible for her. I am not about to let her die too, she is Bobby’s kid, remember? We owe him!”  
Sam shrugged, and stood up. “Fine, if you aren’t going to do anything about it, I will.” He started heading toward the back.  
Dean felt a rush of rage, and followed his brother, slamming him against a wall. “Touch her, and I will kick your ass from here to eternity!” The thought of Sam and her together made him positively mental, not that he’d admit it.  
“Dean, I was just going….”  
“Yah, I know what you were going to do. Keep your mitts off her, got it? We’re not getting involved with her. You of all people know why.”  
“Dean, you need some happiness in your life for once. You have more than earned it.”  
“I’m not domestic material, Sam. You know that.”  
“Maybe it’s time. You almost had it once. Does the name Lisa ring any bells with you?” Sam said, his voice in sync with his eyes, pleading with Dean to just relax, let it happen.  
“Shut up, Sam. Don’t. Go. There.” Dean even heard the razor sharp edge to his voice.  
The door behind them opened, and Rachael stepped out, her eyes shooting daggers. “I tell you what, both of you. I’ll just walk out that door and neither one of you will ever have to worry about it again!” She brushed passed Dean, as he let his brother’s shirt go. He grabbed her arm, and she jerked it out of his grip.  
“No! You don’t want me here; you don’t want any kind of involvement with me whatsoever. Give me one good reason why I should stay!”  
“Because we owe your father.” Dean said, in a matter-of-fact tone.  
“So you want me to stay, because you owe a man that I never met, one that had no interest in knowing me?” She demanded in a low, icy tone.  
Sam touched her shoulder. “No, Rachael. I want you to stay. I want you here. You can help me keep this buffoon in line.” He said with a slight smile, and a much kinder tone.  
“Yah, good luck with that. Somehow, I doubt the entire Allied Forces, and all the angels of heaven could ever keep your brother in line.”  
Sam barks out a laugh, frustrating Dean to no end. “Damn it, I’m not that bad!”  
“Yah, whatever, Winchester. I’ve known you all of five hours and I already know you are miles on the other side of stubborn, ya damn idjit.”   
Both Sam and Dean’s heads snapped over to look at her, in shock and pain. She threw them both a questioning look.  
“It’s something your dad used to call us.” Sam said softly.  
She nodded. “Oh great, so now I have some characteristics of a man that wanted nothing to do with me….wonderful.” She said sarcastically.  
“Rach, do you happen to know if Bobby knew about you?” Sam asked carefully.  
“No, I don’t know it for certain, but…..I know mom was talking to him. She was trying to make her way to Sioux Falls when she’d gotten word that dad had died.”  
“Well, let me assure you, had Bobby known about you, he would have moved heaven and earth to bring you here, and quite possibly your mom. Bobby always helped others, no matter if he could or not. He took in all manners of strays, including Dean and I. When our Dad died, he was all we had.” Sam said gently, trying to diffuse the situation. “I know he would have loved you.”  
She gave a nod, and looked down, almost like she was ashamed.  
Dean couldn’t help himself. He reached over and grabbed her hand. “Rach, we are here for you. We are trying to carry on the legacy Bobby left behind. Please, let us help you.”  
Rachael again nodded. “All right, but on one condition. I pay you back, every single penny. I pay rent, I cook, I clean, and for the love of all that is holy, I kick ass right beside you. I am not a lazy woman, and I will earn my keep.”  
Dean looks over at Sam. “There is no need for rent.” Sam said cautiously. “But we don’t mind anything else. We……we got everything covered financially.”  
Rachael nodded again. She let out a sigh, and continued to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator, and saw the beer. “Oh hell yes, you guys get the best!” She opened it, and took a hard pull. Dean threw Sammy another look, beyond impressed. She really was too much like him.  
Down boy! You still can’t keep her!  
Rachael’s head snapped up to look at him, and he heard Sammy’s voice behind him. “Dean…..”  
“Oh shit….did I…..”  
“Yes, you said it out loud.” Sam said as Rachael finishes off the beer, then tossed the bottle into the trash.   
She turned on her heel and stalked back to the bedroom. Dean felt like a real asshole, and jumped when her bedroom door slammed shut.  
“Dean, I get it, I do. But this one; she’s different. She’ll be good for you.” He turned away and followed her. Dean just sank into a chair. Son of a bitch, he is no great catch! Why Sam would continue to push this shit is beyond him. He doesn’t have time for a relationship! He has enough just looking after his brother!  
A few moments later, he hears Cas’ voice. “Dean……I’m back.”  
Oh, thank god! He got up and went into the common room. “Yo, thanks, man.” Dean said. Cas went back out to the impala, so Dean followed him, silently offering help. Holy crap, it looked like Cas damn near bought out the store! He started grabbing bags out of the back and passenger’s seats. “Yah, she’s kind of not talking to me right now.”  
“What did you do, Dean?”   
“Cas, I think I really screwed up here.” He told his best friend what had happened.  
Castiel lay his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “She will come around. You really like her, don’t you?”  
“Cas, not you too! Man, what is it with you and Sam? Why do you want me with someone so bad? Don’t you realize that whenever I hook up in something serious, it gets them killed? Look at Jo! She is a damn good example!”  
“You never hooked up with Jo, remember? You refused.”   
“Well, yah! Remember Ellen…her mother? She scared the hell out of me!”   
“Dean, quit avoiding the conversation.” Sam said, frustrated.  
“Drop it, Samuel. I’m not getting into a domestic clusterfu…”  
“Dean…..” Cas interrupted, stopping him from saying anymore. “Maybe Sam should bring her stuff to her.”  
“No, Cas. She knows you, she trusts you. You go ahead and do it.” Sam said softly.  
He nodded, and knocked on her bedroom door. “Rach, it’s Cas…may….may we talk for a moment?”  
She opened the door with a smile. “You can talk to me anytime. I owe you everything.”  
“Here are your new things.” He started, and looked down. “I need to say this….Dean….he’s a bit rough, just give him some time to come around. He is worth it.”  
“Excuse me? I don’t understand what you’re saying. I just met him, and I am grateful for them giving me a warm place to sleep, but as for anything else, I seriously doubt he’s interested. He’s made that perfectly clear.”  
Sam came into the room. “Rach, Cas, you need to see this. I think we have something.”  
They follow him back out to the common room, where Dean is already sitting in front of the laptop. She tried to ignore his cologne as she read over his shoulder.   
Bodies of men were washing up on the shore of California, burned to a crisp. It wasn’t the sunburn type of burn, this looked like someone or something exploded, and decimated these bodies to the point where only dental records could identify them.  
“Dude, I don’t get how you think this might be a case.” Dean said.  
“Look at it. You tell me how four bodies could wash up on the shores of Northern California, burned to a crisp. Water puts fire out. The way those bodies are burned, it looks like someone doused them in gasoline and lit the match!” Rach returned, thinking Dean is being an idiot. “Plus, look at this. It said that they had been in the brig of a cruise ship, accused of gang raping a passenger. They were in the cells late last night, a hundred and fifty miles off the coast, and showed up a few hours later, on the coast of San Francisco. There are no signs of fish or shark bites. Something is up.”  
Dean nodded. “All right, we go to San Francisco then.”  
“Let me at least shower before we head out. Kansas is a long way from California.” Rach headed for the bathroom.  
“Sounds good, it will give me enough time to make you a few ID cards…especially the FBI badge.” Sam said.   
“All right, thank you, Sam.” She said.  
A few minutes later, Dean about fell over when she came out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, cami, and a pair of hiking boots, it damn near did him in. She went in back, and packed some things in a duffle bag, then came back out like nothing whatsoever phased her. “Well Winchester, take a picture, it’ll last longer. Let’s get going.”   
He rolled his eyes, frustrated with himself that he got caught staring.  
“Sammy!” He called down the hall just a little too forcefully.   
“Dean, relax! I’m on the way!” Sam said, mimicking his tone.  
Even Dean knew he was being a douche, sticking his foot in his mouth every time he opened it, but damn it all, the last time he felt anything remotely similar to this, Amara damn near took over the planet, and took him with her! Needless to say, this is a hell of a mess of similar proportions.  
“She is entirely too much like Bobby, isn’t she?” Sam mused aloud as they went to baby.  
“Yah, kinda creepy how similar they are.”  
“Yah, but they’re different where it counts.” Sam tried to keep from laughing as Dean watched her walk up the steps to the door, her hips working like they were double jointed.  
“Shut up, Samuel!”   
Sam’s mouth twitched, trying to hold back a smile. “Are you going to be an ass the whole way to California, or just part way?”  
“Keep it up, and it will be the whole way there, and the whole way back!”  
They threw their duffels into the trunk, and a few days later, they pulled up to another cheesy motel. “Um, how we gonna work this?” Dean asked.  
“Work what? You and Sam can get a room, and I will get a room. What, your credit card fraud isn’t paying out?” Rach asked after two days of virtual silence.  
“Oh, trust me, I think I’ll be able to keep my hands off you. I mean, if I actually find someone I could….”  
“Dean! Can I talk to you outside?” Sam interrupted with an undertone of Right fudging now, asshat!  
He followed his brother. “Listen up, douchebag. Be. Nice. She’s gone through enough.” He started, until Dean rolled his eyes again. “She’s gone through enough, man.”  
“Fine, I’ll sleep on the floor, or on a chair.” He sighed, and went into the office. When he got back out, Sam and Rach were deep into a conversation. “Hey, it’s ok. He’s not as gruff as he sounds, you are more than welcome with us. If you weren’t, believe me, he wouldn’t have brought you along.” Son of a bitch, he hated it when Sam was right, he was going to have to tone his shit down.  
Later that day, the three got dressed in their FBI duds, and headed to the first Witness.  
Rach turned to the witness, a teenage rocker wannabe named Jeremy Brown. “Jeremy, my name is Agent Benatar, and I’d like to ask you a few questions.” She said, flashing her badge before Dean could say a word.  
“Uh, yah, sure.” The kid sounded like he smoked one too many dubes in the last hour.  
“The police records say that you are the one that found the bodies…..” she started.  
“Yah, man. My girl and I were walking on the beach, and allasudden we seen the bodies. Dude, it looked like someone used them for a barbeque gone bad.”  
“What did you do when you found them? Did you call the police immediately?” She asked point blank.  
“Naw man, at first I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the acid, but then some other dude tripped on them, so I knew I wasn’t hallucinating then! But dude, ya’d think that some fish had been gnawin’ on them or something, but there was nothing!”  
Dean looked over at Sam as he’d started to say something, but Rach beat him to it. “Did you smell anything like sulfur, like maybe someone’d lit a match?”  
“Naw, just seaweed, and burned hamburger!” The kid tried to crack a joke, but Rach just gave him a deadpan look. The kid shrank back. “Y’all gonna arrest me?”  
“No, not today, but if I were you, I’d lay off the narcotics, or next time we will.”  
“Yes, ma’am!”  
Rach closed her book, and said; “I think we have all we need here.” She turned to Dean. “Agent Gibson….” She then turned to Sam. “Agent Rhodes, are we ready?”  
Once they got to Baby, Dean turned to Rachael. “Gibson? Are you kidding me right now?”  
“What, didn’t like Debbie Gibson?” She asked, her eyes twinkling.  
Dean shot Sam a “die bitch!” look when Sam burst out laughing.  
Dean’s jaw set as he started the car and roared down the street. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Rach staring out the window. He couldn’t see the expression on her face, but he could tell something was wrong. She was busting his balls, teasing him at every turn. He is starting to think that maybe, just maybe, she kind of likes him, but that can’t happen. It will do nothing but get her killed. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought though.   
“So Rach, what do you think we learned by that interview with stoner lad back there?”  
“Well, it’s not demonic, but I can’t figure it out. How would a body get from a brig on a cruise ship several miles off the coast to a beach in moments, burned to a crisp? It doesn’t make sense!”  
“Dean, why don’t you and Rach go and talk to the next witness? I could do a little research back at the motel and maybe we can get some answers.” Sam suggested.  
“Or, you and Dean can go talk to them, and I’ll do the research.” Wait, is she scared to be alone with him?  
“Is that what you want?” Sam asked softly.  
She took a side glance at Dean. “Yes, actually. I’ve already proven what I can do in the field, I’d like to prove what I can do on the other side of things.”  
“Rachael, you don’t have anything to prove to us. We know you are a woman of your word.” Dean said sincerely.  
“Ok, I have a question for you then. We’re on a hunt, we need to find out how to kill something, and Sam got hurt in the field. Wouldn’t you rather know I can do something, or hope I can?”  
He opened his mouth, and closed it again. Damn it, she’s good! “All right, I get your point.”  
Dean said, and pointed Baby in the general direction of the witness’ house.  
“Yo, you ok man?” Sam asked, knocking him back out of his head.  
“Yup, just frigging peachy, thinking about the case is all.”  
“What about the case? What’s got you stumped?”  
“The whole damn thing has me stumped! Yah, those guys were douchebags that tried to rape that chick on the ship but isn’t torching their bodies a bit excessive? I mean, there are prison cells for those types of assholes.”  
“I don’t know, maybe someone’s trying to send a message.”  
“I hear it loud and clear! Force yourself on a woman and get charbroiled! Skip court and go straight to the punishment!” He said, his voice thick with apprehension.  
“Not like you would ever have to worry about that, Dean. You’ve never had an issue.”  
“Sam, Rachael is right. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.” He said emphatically, as his phone started to ring. He took a quick look at it, and Rach’s number came up. He gave a smile, and answered it. “Hey good looking, whatcha got?”  
“Dean, where are you guys? Are you at the witness’ house yet?” She said, ignoring the compliment.  
“No, we’re still on the road. Why, what’s up?”  
“You need to come back to the hotel, you’ll never believe it in a million years.”  
“Why, what’s going on?”  
"We are screwed, and not in the warm and fuzzy way. Trust me, you need to get back here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise, I am trying to get these out as fast as I can, but too many hours at work, and not enough down time...yah, kind of makes it hard. Please, let me know what you think of this.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a huge series with lots of chapters. I may not get to post once a week since I'm about to start working a LOT of hours, but I will get them out as soon as humanly possible. I hope you enjoy, and please, let me know what you think.


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